To ensure that your newsletter is professional, polished and timely, the following guidelines have been established for Boards of Accountancy requesting outreach services. DesignOne of the first steps to creating your board’s newsletter is to choose the design, color scheme and layout. To assist you with making this important decision, sample newsletter templates have been created for you to choose from. You may select one of the templates, mix and match or design from scratch. Click a thumbnail below to open a sample template:
ArticlesNewsletter articles should be submitted via email in a Microsoft Word document. Short articles can range between 250-350 words. For longer news articles, such as features, the word count should range between 400-650 words.
It is recommended that your newsletter not exceed six pages in length. Please use the following guide when determining content for each newsletter issue.
When submitting articles, it is ideal to number them by importance so they will be placed in the newsletter in the preferred order. For example, if you have a story that needs to be on the front page, you will want to number it as “1 – Front Page.” > Sample Article 1 Suggested TopicsThe following topics are appropriate for newsletters to assist the BOA with creating and gathering content. These are only suggestions to help you create and gather content. You may select items from the list, or create topic areas of your own.
Photographs
LogosLogos may be included in the publication. When submitting a logo, please send in vector format (jpg or eps files are accepted; however, eps is preferred). Logo examples include state or board seals. Please see samples below.
ChartsCharts may be submitted in Microsoft Excel format. The graphic designers may revise charts to coincide within the theme of the publication.
ReviewOnce the layout is complete, a draft pdf of the publication will be sent to the executive director and/or designated staff member for review. During this review, all parties are encouraged to check for proper grammar, misspellings, proper placement of graphics/photos and note any corrections that need to be made. You will then scan and email the edited pdf to both the graphic designer and communications manager that you have been working with on the publication. In turn, the communications manager will also share suggested edits with you and your assigned graphic designer. The designer will then make the necessary modifications and send a revised draft pdf back out for final review and approval. Approval
Email Broadcast ServicesIn addition to design and editing services, NASBA is also equipped to disseminate your publication on your behalf to target audiences via mass email. If you select this option, please submit a Microsoft Excel or csv file of the email addresses to which you want the publication sent to your assigned designer (preferably at the same time in which initial draft copy is submitted). Lastly, please provide us with a return email address to include in the email. AnalyticsEmail distribution comes with several benefits. First, sending information via email is cost effective, and in this case, free of charge to participating boards. Secondly, email distribution ensures faster delivery of your communication (compared to standard, U.S. Mail delivery). Lastly, NASBA’s email distribution service affords boards the opportunity to receive a detailed report including metrics on the number of opened emails, number of click-throughs and the number of bounced back emails. Thus, allowing your board the opportunity to effectively measure the success of your outreach efforts and to make necessary updates to your database. Metric reports are shared with participating boards approximately 48-hours following your email campaign launch. Analytic TipsMost responses occur within the first 48-72 hours after an email is sent. Average open rate for consumer-oriented mailings is roughly 35-45% range. Unique clicks exclude members clicking the same links multiple times. Total clicks count multiple clicks. Shares show who is sharing mailings over email or social networks. Mailing Score factors in open rate, click-through rate, shares percentage, opt-out percentage and signup percentage along with the use of split testing to give you a number on a 10-point scale and compare it to averages of 45,000 customers and millions of emails that send through us. Appears after 24 hrs. Highest percentage of email opens happen at the beginning of week (Monday – Wednesday). Later in the week and weekends have highest number of clickthroughs. Emails sent mid-day (around lunch time) have the highest open rate. Print PublicationIf you choose to have your publication printed, please inform us of the quantity to be printed and your preferred address of where you want the printed materials shipped. Please note: Nominal fees may be charged to cover printing, mailing and shipping costs. Also, if your state requires that your board utilize an in-house or specific print vendor, your assigned designer is available to prepare and submit the proper print files on your board’s behalf. |
Boards may submit photographs and graphics via email to accompany their content (high-resolution jpg or png files are acceptable, with a maximum file size 7 MB). High resolution files are generally 300 dpi and large in size.
Before publication, your approval will be required for us to email and/or print the document. Once approved, a final copy of the publication will be sent to you in pdf format. You will then have the ability to post this document to your website, email directly to target audiences, share via social media, and use in any manner that you determine appropriate.